Miles Covered (aka Archives)

Track Tuesday!

I knew it would be a tougher workout this morning when I woke up and it was still in the high 70’s with lots of humidity. But, I got myself going and gave myself a pep talk as I prepared to meet Josh at the track for our workout. In the back of my head, I was already making excuses. I knew I wouldn’t hit my goal times. But, I was telling myself it was ok because it was hot, right? Logical :).

I was drenched with sweat by the time we reached the track. After our dynamic stretches and warm ups, I was dripping. Josh asked if there were any other drills I wanted to do. I honestly replied that I just wanted to go back home! Still, I followed Josh to the starting point and we took off. After the 1st 400, I was feeling pretty good. Once again, I relinquished the Garmin to Josh and was following his lead. I was huffing as we finished the 800 but was surprised by how quickly I caught my breath. I was even more surprised we were better than my goal time. Confidence up that I wasn’t actually going to die on the track today, we set out for #2. This one was slightly slower than the first and my goal time. Josh asked if I wanted to keep my goal time or adjust for the heat. Without stopping to think, I blurted out that we were not adjusting. Then, after processing it, I realized that was the right thing to do. Keep working hard to meet my goal. After all, if it’s hot on race day, you can’t adjust your goal time to accommodate for the conditioners. Race organizers aren’t going to give you that luxury…

#3 was better than #2 AND we were halfway done= BONUS. By this time, I was soaked with sweat. We set out on #4 and it was just as fast as #1. A good sign more than halfway through. #5 snuck up on me and kicked my buns. It felt like my lungs were going to burst as we finished the 1st 400. It was definitely getting harder and I was feeling exhausted. Still, we had 1 more to go and as we started out on #6, I gave it my all, knowing we’d be done in less than 4 minutes and I could home. My legs were wobbly and as we rounded the corner for the last 100, I nearly toppled off the track :). Still, I dug deep and pushed it for the last 100. It was our 3rd best time all morning. 🙂 I didn’t die. I actually felt pretty good and the cool down run was by far easier than our warm up run had been.

Oh! And that little 5K Josh and I ran on Saturday? I ended up with a PR! 🙂 I was 2 seconds faster than my goal pace and the fastest I’ve ever run a 5K race. The course even had hills. I was shocked, to say the least. Shocked even more by how good I felt throughout and at the finish. You know, I think there just might be something to this strength training and yoga…